Seeing Santa

 Thomas went to his first concert! And then he saw Santa afterwards. Both events did NOT go smoothly. I kind of saw the disaster coming, but my parents really wanted him to go, and I often "see disasters coming" and in reality everything ends up just fine. With Thomas, I try to take a "We'll try it" approach to public events... which has resulted in some awful brunches, but also some really amazing times.

Anyway, the concert was held in a very cool museum with an adorable kids section, which was great (and a creepy folk art section I did not enjoy because folk art is not at all my thing). Pictured above: adorable kids section of the museum. The concert was sit down, and I thought it was going to be casual, but then all these older ladies arrived in Chanel suits, and I was like "Whoa Nelly." Also: It was bluegrass (yay!) mixed with a string quartet (uh-oh). Thomas, in his flannel and his one-year-oldness, might have been able to hang through some bluegrass, but a classical music concert? Not so much. So he didn't stay long, but we did get to see Santa!

Santa totally scared Thomas, and there was not going to be a one-on-one moment with the Jolly Old Elf, but Thomas was cool with staring at him from my lap. Merry Christmas!

This is what I wore to hang with Santa. That sweater vest situation is my new favorite thing. So graphic! So comfortable! So warm! And the thrifted pants and second-hand clogs are my old favorite things (Love them. Wear them all the time.)

Happy holidays!

Belmont in black and white

I had some serious black-and-white action going on during a recent visit to the little town of Belmont.

I wore this to a last-minute dinner in the town's cute little downtown. Just like I said in my last post: Boots are great for the mornings these days. Not so much the evenings. And so: In this photo, I am feeling a little toasty. Just a wee bit toasty.

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin patch time! It's fall. I have a kiddo. It's time to hit the farm and pick out  a pumpkin.

Thomas thought this one looked good. Actually, he felt pretty positively about all of them. He went up to each one and said "ball." Inaccurate, but understandable.

We met up with friends. Hey, little cutie! 

We went to the pumpkin patch (which was actually on a full-blown farm owned by a fellow teacher at my school), and I wore boots because it was a wee bit chilly. That's how it's been in the mornings: chilly. Then, the afternoon comes...

And it's like 80 degrees! What is that! I am so ready to commit to fall! Let's just have some consistent chilly weather, okay? Anyway, this picture is from later in the day (hence the Thomas outfit change into his ADORABLE bow-tie onesie). I wore sandals because boots are not conducive to 80-degree weather. When it's 80 degrees, you give your toes some freedom and go look at fountains.

Happy fall, y'all!

That '70s outfit

This is my '70s outfit. My Love shirt and brown clogs (oh those brown clogs are getting so much play these days) and high-waisted flare jeans. I used to be all about '50s style -- flared dresses and adorable heels, but I've now jumped ahead a few decades. The '70s were just so laid back, man. (In my mind. I wasn't actually there. But it seems like at least the clothes were pretty chill.) Related sidenote: I am really into John Denver right now. He was so aggressively uncool with his granny glasses, overuse of the phrase "far out" and constant cheerfulness. Way to be cool with your un-coolness! Coming soon: John Denver, style icon. (Did John Denver ever wear clogs? Discuss.)

Dreary day

It just rained and rained and rained in North Carolina for what seemed like weeks. This picture was taken this past weekend when we braved Hurricane Joaquin to go visit my parents and my brother and his family (Thomas's cousins!). The drive really wasn't that bad. South Carolina was much harder hit, but it sure was dreary. You want to know what my kidlet likes? The outside. You want to know what I'm not that into? Being outside when it's raining. It makes for some conflict. Anyway, here we are in a brief respite from the rain. My boots and dress are thrifted. My hair is cut-off (very exciting), and my baby is adorable. Pictured behind me: An actual everyday pond and not the results of crazy rainfall.

Second-hand Sarah

There is a teacher at my school who has just really stunning style. "I think she shops at the stores I search for on eBay," I told my co-teacher. 

One such store? Anthropologie. It is such a rich lady's store. I've gone in and tried on clothes (with baby in tow even) at the actual bricks and mortar store, but I've never bought anything. I'm just too cheap. I just can't. Maybe for a really special occasion? But maybe not. I totally admire friends who buy pricey, but quality clothing sparingly and have that mythic "capsule wardrobe." Me? I spent too many years broke and thrifting like crazy. I am now addicted to second-hand and have unrealistic expectations about how much things should cost.

Maybe some day that will change, but maybe not. Pictured above: My new-to-me Anthropologie shirt bought through eBay. It is so so pretty. It is wearable art. It is my new boyfriend. I just can't with it. Love it. And I bought it for probably 1/3 of the original retail price. Treasure hunting at its best!

Stripes and stripes

 

If I claim polka dots always match polka dots, then should I also expect stripes to always go with stripes?

Sure. Why not. Stripes always go with stripes. Here's photo evidence. (Or not. Whatevs. This outfit is so comfy, I'm loving it no matter what. Soooooooo coooooomfortable.)

Animal Farm

You know that moment when you learn the book "Animal Farm" isn't just about animals, but is actually about the Russian Revolution? Yeah. I love that moment. You don't forget that moment. 

I did a book group last year with the highest of my high fifth-grade students, and, man, they dug in. They were so engaged in it, and they made really amazing connections. My big regret is I didn't have enough time at the end, so we sort of sped through it before summer vacation arrived. But: I'm totally going to teach it again! Literacy is the best, and I am the nerdy teacher who wears book shirts. (Proud of it, too!)

This pig? He is not to be trifled with. (Shirt bought on eBay, but originally from Out of Print.)

I combined my bookish tee with sneakers and a flippy skirt. I wore this to take Thomas to the Charlotte Nature Museum. In this outfit, we hung out with butterflies, pointed at an alligator, played with animal puppets and attempted (and failed) to listen to a read aloud. (Seriously. Thomas just stood up and walked out of the room all like "Nope. There are toys out there. I am going to the toys. I don't need to listen to this lady read about owls. Sorry not sorry.")

How cute is this happy nugget? Love those smiles! (Sidenote: I have decided not to get his hair cut yet. I just can't. Can't do it. Won't do it. Realize all the other boys in his class have had their hair cut. Don't care. Okay, do care, but not enough. Am fine with having a hippy child. We'll cut it some day. Not right not. Not gonna do it. Not gonna do it.)

Mom style

I feel like I am such a mom in this photo. I look happy, but tired. There are nugget clothes on the floor and a little nugget playing in the bath in the corner of the photo. Motherhood, man, it's the best.

I also feel like this is an awesome, accidental outfit. It's something I just threw together for mom-ing, but it's fabulous! Pattern mixing: A thing I love. Mom-ing: A thing I love even more!

Welcoming back the '70s

 Look at that little nugget! You can tell by the expression on his face that he's about to take off!

And there he goes! Zoom!

When chasing after my nugget, I enjoy wearing '70s-style flare jeans and brown clogs. I could welcome back Kotter in this outfit. Three could be company in this outfit. In these jeans, I could move on up. 

The shirt is a second-hand gift from my best friend, and the purse is a Christmas gift from my sister-in law. It is seriously the perfect nugget-chasing purse. Regular purses like to try and fall off my shoulder when I'm bending over to grab him! (Also: polka dots. Yay.)

Gotcha!

Feeling feelings

 "Let me tell you about you -- You feel strongly about everything," my husband said.

"And let me tell you something else," he continued (we were laughing) "Sometimes you get mad at me for not feeling strongly about everything."

It's true. I am an ENFP. He is an INTJ. According to Keirsey, it's a pretty perfect match in an opposites-attract kind of way. I feel my feelings, people. I mean, I feel them. I try to be a Zen bunny, but I mostly fail. Robert, on the other hand, approaches everything (almost) with pure logic. (And love! And humor!)

Want to know something I feel strongly about? This outfit. The shirt is second-hand from eBay, and it is splatter-tastic. The pants were thrifted, and they have a great uniform pattern. Look at that! One crazy, all-over-the-place print feeling its feelings and one more structured, logical print looking good too. It's a match made in heaven!

Snow Day!

We had our first snow day! Really, it was more of an ice day, but we'll take what we can get!

I know some people are 8-feet deep in snow, and this probably looks comical to them, but, hey, we're enjoying it! It's Thomas's first snowy experience, and he seemed pretty into it.

I was pretty into his awesome thrifted (by my parents -- where do you think I get it from?) red snow fleece hooded romper situation. How cute is that kid? Snow gnome!

Snow days are not free to teachers. We lose work days and eventually spring break days if there are enough, but whatever. I needed a day off! The three of us have been sharing a cold (I'm resigned to the fact that we're all just going to have colds all winter. As long as we don't get another flu-type situation, it's going to be okay!), and I was happy to get some rest!

I wore those boots because they have really great tread. You don't want to trip on the ice when you're holding a sweet and precious baby! Happy ice day to all!

Beautiful things

 So... sometimes I am drawn to beautiful things, and then I'm like "When am I really going to wear that? There's no need in my life for something like that!" And then I'm like "I need to start living a life that does have a need for something like that! It's not that I shouldn't buy this beautiful thing, it's that I should change my whole life!" With these boots, I was like "Those would be really cute on someone else." And then I was like, "Nope. Those would be really cute on me. ON ME. I am going to be that someone else those boots would look cute on!"

And they are. They are really cute on me. They'd probably be really cute on someone else too. That's because they're really cute boots. (They're cowboy boot booties. I was like "Can I wear cowboy boots?" And then I was like "My Grandpa was from Texas. He wore cowboy boots every day of his life! I like Johnny Cash! I like Lyle Lovett! I can wear cowboy boots!" Also, you don't have to have Texan ancestry or a love of country music to wear cowboy boots. You just need a desire to wear cowboy boots.)

Something else cute? Thomas. So cute. Those little feet. 

So yes,I'm totally feeling these boots. They were meant to be mine. (I bought them on eBay obviously. Does that even need to be said?) And these boots fit me and my life perfectly.

Art

I love art. Love it, love it, love it. I love it all. So when I heard that Charlotte got a new piece of public art, I was like "We must see it!" And then we did, like, a year and a half later. Hey man, I've been pregnant and then a mamma to a newborn and then a mamma to a baby! It's not so easy to get out these days! Anyway, we saw Buddy Bear there, and he's pretty cute. I cozied up to him like the buddies we are. (What's the deal with the Marie Antoinette on his belly? I don't know. Maybe I will look it up and let you know some time. Or just come up with your own interpretation. It's art!)

Not so cute -- this bunny/bird situation. But still awesome. That was at the McColl Center for Visual Art, which is free and open to the public and one of my favorite places.

It also had a pretty butterfly wall. So much pretty! And I wore my pretty polka-dot dress and Bigfoot necklace. Gotta look good when you're checking out art! (Not really. You don't really have to look good to look at art. But if one owns a Bigfoot necklace, one should wear said Bigfoot necklace as much as possible. It's a service to humanity.)

Colors popping

 Any time anyone compliments something I'm wearing these days, I respond "It's from eBay" because it is, it is always from eBay.

I still thrift. Actually, these pictures were taken right before Thomas and I went thrifting on Saturday, but I don't thrift clothes for myself much these days (although I did Saturday!). Usually, I have Thomas with me, and we look for baby clothes and baby books. I'm starting that kid thrifting young! Raising him right!

Best recent eBay buy: this bubblegum pink purse. I'm into bubblegum pink right now. It is so damn cheerful.

Second best eBay purchase: this letterman-jacket sweater.

Those bright red pants were also eBay. I am apparently all about wearing super-bright, super-saturated colors in winter. And why not? This is the time of year we need them the most!

Sick baby outfit 4

Thomas was sick all weekend. I was frazzled all weekend. This is me in my fourth Saturday outfit standing in my baby-stuff-filled foyer. It was an accidentally super-cute outfit. I had already been thrown up on in my leggings/sweatshirt outfits, and this seemed like a simple thing to throw on. Poor Thomas. He never had a fever, and we kept him hydrated, but, yeesh, what a weekend. There is no anxiety like mamma anxiety. He's much, much better now. My foyer, however, is still filled with baby stuff and will be until Thomas is no longer a baby (then it will be filled with kid stuff probably).

Squirrel!

The title of this post is an obvious "Up" reference. That is one of my favorite movies of all time. Seriously. Top Five. That montage of the Carl and his wife? Um. The best thing ever. I cry like a baby every time I watch it. (I just re-watched the clip with my husband next to me and bawled, and Robert was like "Seriously, baby, you should know better" because he's been through this before.) But seriously the best movie about grief/infertility/love/life ever. Love it. Love it. Anyway, my sweater has a squirrel on it, and I bought it on eBay, and it's amazing.

I wore this outfit to an awkward baby shower. At least it was awkward for me. I LOVE the baby mamma, and I think we should hang out all the time with our babies once she has her baby and be like "Babies!" together, but... well... I only knew the baby mamma and the host, and the host was very busy, and the baby mamma was very in demand, and I made a lot of small talk at this event, and small talk is just so... so... small. Ya know?

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who found the baby shower awkward because everyone else fit comfortably into some sort of friend group. Being a reporter for eight years made me relatively adept at talking to strangers, and I also recently had a baby of my own so there was that to talk about...

The baby mamma liked my squirrel sweater, and I was like "I dressed up for you!" (accurate). Being at a baby shower made me really miss my own baby, though. My life has changed so much. I think it's important to get out of the house and see other grown ups and go on dates one-on-one with my husband and whatnot and other. It's important to maintain my identity blah blah blah, but mostly I just like hanging out with my baby. Truth. 

Pretty darn dapper

Remember when I said Thomas's style was going to surpass mine in 2015? Well, consider this post Exhibit A. 

Sure, I have my nice striped sweater, which has become a staple, and my reliable black-and-white maxi skirt, but this outfit is nothing compared to what Thomas has going on. 

What does he have going on? Frog onesie. Bear-in-a-car overalls. Newsboy hat. Let me repeat that last one -- newsboy hat. 

So yeah. He's looking pretty darn dapper. A cutie-patootie for sure!